In therapeutic settings working with children who are experiencing emotion and/or learning problems, such children quite often have a great deal of difficulty in being able to identify, express, and accept their feelings. In addition to the above, almost all children have particular difficulty in expressing and dealing with negative thoughts and feelings which they often equate with being "bad". This mistaken viewpoint that it is wrong to show feelings such as anger can thwart a child's development of a healthy, positive self image.
Although children are told that there is nothing wrong in expressing their thoughts, and particularly negative thoughts, it is still difficult for them to accept this fact which, of course, can be very frustrating to both the child and the adult or adults involved.